2026-05-02 · gigatonnes carbon in permafrost
Permafrost locks twice atmospheric carbon
Frozen soil in the Arctic stores ancient carbon. Thaw could rewrite the methane budget.
Climate grids hide gigatonnes behind identical squares — the gradient is political once you see the cell count. This grid divides permafrost carbon stock (2026 snapshot) into colored bands — Permafrost soil carbon and Atmosphere (comparison) — using equal squares so you compare shares, not country size on a map.
1 cell = 1.7 gigatonnes carbon in permafrost (0.1% of permafrost carbon stock) · 1,000 cells
Context
The 2026 figures from IPCC AR6 permafrost put Permafrost soil carbon at 67% of permafrost carbon stock and Atmosphere (comparison) at 33% — about 1,700 gigatonnes carbon in permafrost in this edition's rounding.
/ IPCC AR6: permafrost ~1,500–1,700 Gt C vs ~850 Gt in atmosphere.
Schuur et al. / IPCC AR6: permafrost ~1,500–1,700 Gt C vs ~850 Gt in atmosphere.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-05-02-permafrost-carbon